ORLANDO, Fla. – Initial jobless claims in Florida dropped by more than half last week compared to the prior week, according to figures released Thursday, as unemployed Floridians continued facing problems receiving benefits because of difficulties with a computer system.
Florida had 173,191 initial claims for unemployment benefits last week, compared to 433,103 initial claims in the week prior, according to figures released by the U.S.
Department of Labor. In the week before that, Florida had more than a half million new claims. The drop indicates that Florida is on the downward slope of the spike in new jobless claims that started rising in mid-March as businesses closed their doors to stop the spread of the new coronavirus.